Lightly moistened Japanese paper was wrapped around a vertical cylindrical form and crinkled by pressing the paper down to the bottom of the cylinder. The crinkled paper was removed, opened, and wrapped around the cylinder again in a different direction. This was repeated eight or ten times. By this laborious method, soft, crêpe-like paper was finally produced. In the process, the size of the Japanese paper was reduced to about 80%. The pages were assembled and bound with silk thread.